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The Lieutenant Governor of the State of Illinois is an elected Constitutional officer, the second ranking officer of the Executive branch, and the first officer in line to succeed the Governor of Illinois. The Lieutenant Governor is popularly elected every four years by a plurality and has no term limit.

Election

Illinois elects lieutenant governors in the midterm elections, that is, even years that are not Presidential election years. For Illinois, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018 are all lieutenant gubernatorial election years. Legally, the lieutenant gubernatorial inauguration is always set for the second Monday in the January following an election. Thus, January 10, 2011 and January 12, 2015 are inaugural days.

Vacancies

If the lieutenant governor's chair becomes vacant, it shall remain vacant for the remainder of the elected term. The attorney general then becomes second in the line of succession.

Duties

The lieutenant governor of Illinois handles a variety of responsibilities which have been delegated to the office via statute. These duties include serving as Chairman of the Governor's Rural Affairs Council, Chairman of Rural Bond Bank of Illinois, head of the Illinois Main Street Program, and Chairman of the Illinois River Coordinating Council.
In addition to these duties, the lieutenant governor can take on other duties as assigned by the governor or initiate duties of his or her own. An example of this is work by Former Lt. Gov. Corrine Wood, for example, focused on women's health issues. The lieutenant governor also serves as a surrogate speaker for the governor around the state and as a representative for state government.

Under the Illinois Constitution Article V section 7. "If the Lieutenant Governor fails to qualify or if his office becomes vacant, it shall remain vacant until the end of the term."
Prior to the adoption of the 1970 Illinois Constitution, the Lieutenant Governor also served as the presiding officer of the Illinois State Senate. Losing this position made the lieutenant governor job less significant, and contributed to the "boredom" cited by Jim Thompson's first lieutenant governor, Dave O'Neal, on July 31, 1981, when he resigned the office.

She has such other responsibilities and duties as the Governor shall assign.